Op-Ed: Who Made Walter Isaacson God?

Walter Isaacson is a writer, and a very good one at that. His biography of Steve Jobs was one of the most popular books of 2011, and will serve as the basis for an upcoming movie about the late Apple co-founder.

What Isaacson is not, however, is a technology expert. Yet, once again the writer is acting as some sort of unofficial spokesman for Jobs.

Isaacson recently went on CNBC to vent his frustration with Apple, and its CEO Tim Cook. He claims that Cupertino no longer innovates. Instead, he believes the “greatest innovation today is coming from Google.”

As proof, Isaacson points to Google’s recent acquisition of Nest. He claims this development is more important than the deal recently signed between Apple and China Mobile to sell iPhones through the world’s largest carrier.

Explaining how “Steve Jobs was a disruptor,” the writer says that 2014 could be a make-or-break year for his successor. Cook, he says, has got to say “‘What am I going to disrupt? Is it going to be wearables? Is it going to be a watch? Is it going to be TV?’ We ought to see, in 2014, Apple do something huge.”

I agree the Nest acquisition could come back to bite Apple. Given Nest was created by former Apple employees, this acquisition should never have happened. Still, I don’t believe Cook is in the hot water Isaacson would have us believe.

Isaacson has this strange habit of knocking Apple based on the many discussions he had with Jobs nearly five years ago. Worse, he seems to take great pleasure in doing so.

Unlike many here at AppAdvice, I actually liked Isaacson’s take on Steve Jobs. In fact, I consider “Steve Jobs” one of the best biographies ever published. Being a biographer, however, doesn’t make one an expert in an ever-changing field like technology.

Isaacson has made it his purpose to defend Jobs’ legacy by criticizing Apple. This is wrong and should stop. What say you?